# Credits & Pricing

Clodo uses credits for people discovery, contact enrichment, and email drafting. The amount charged depends on the endpoint and its result.

## Get started

You need to **sign up first** on the [Get Started page](https://clodo.ai/get-started). Choose **API pay as you go** to create your account and add your starting credits, then open the [API Console](https://clodo.ai/api-console) to create a key.

## API pricing

The self-serve API offer starts with a one-time credit purchase. There is no monthly API subscription.

| | API pay as you go |
|---|---|
| Starting payment | $25 |
| Starting balance | 1,250 credits |
| Additional usage | $0.02 per credit |
| Monthly commitment | None |

Every additional 1,000 credits costs $20. Applicable taxes are extra. See [Get Started → Credit rates](https://clodo.ai/get-started#credit-rates-title) for current offer details and API rates.

> API signup includes authorization for usage billing. After your starting balance is used, additional usage is charged automatically to your saved card at the stated per-credit rate. Review the checkout terms before completing signup.

## Manage your balance

Open [API Console → Credits](https://clodo.ai/api-console?tab=credits) to review your available credits and purchase additional credits. The [Usage tab](https://clodo.ai/api-console?tab=usage) shows request history and credit charges.



## Per-endpoint cost

| Endpoint | Cost | Charge model |
|---|---|---|
| Email Enrichment | 5 credits | Per call |
| Phone Enrichment | 50 credits on hit, 0 on miss | Per hit |
| Professional URL Enrichment | 3 credits | Per call |
| Professional Profile Enrichment | 2 credits | Per call |
| People Search | 1 credit per lead returned | Variable per result |
| Deep Search | 200 credits (`mode: "standard"`) or 400 credits (`mode: "extended"`) | Fixed per run |
| [Agentic Search](https://docs.clodo.ai/api-reference/endpoint/agentic-search) | Variable, capped by `max_credits` (300–2,000; default 500) | Reserve the cap, settle the final charge, release or refund the remainder |
| Outreach Emails | 2 credits per drafted email | Per successful draft |

Polling endpoints (`GET /v1/.../{job_id}/`, `GET /v1/emails/...`) consume no credits. For Outreach Emails, drafting is the only billable event — reviewing, editing, approving, cancelling, and sending are free, and a failed draft is not charged. Cancelling an already-drafted email does not refund the draft.

## Charge lifecycle

Agentic Search charges 100 credits for a completed search that performs work but returns no qualifying leads. Internal failures and cancellation before paid work starts are not charged. Partial deliveries remain billable within your cap. See [Agentic Search](https://docs.clodo.ai/api-reference/endpoint/agentic-search) for the full budget and cancellation behavior.

Each call creates an audit row that ends in one of these states (visible in the **Usage** tab of the Console):

| `charge_status` | Customer pill | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `pending` | Pending | In flight (async endpoints, before settlement). |
| `charged` | Completed | Charged the committed amount. |
| `zero_result` | Completed | Variable-charge endpoint returned 0 results, no charge. |
| `released` | Completed | Validation reject or upstream error, no charge. |

`lost_*` states are operational anomalies.

## Topping up

Use the **Credits** tab in the Console.

## See also

- Per-endpoint reference pages for input shapes and full status mapping.